Red Desert (Italian: Il deserto rosso) is a 1964 Italian film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. The film is about a woman trying hard to survive in the modern world of cultural neurosis and existential dilemma. This is Antonioni's first colour film.
Giuliana (Monica Vitti) is married to a manager of the factory. Giuliana suffers from an unnamed form of depression. She has a young son as well. Despite that ,she is unhappy and lonely. She even tries an affair with a friend of her husband. His name is Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris). He is looking to take workers for an industrial purpose in Argentina. Giuliana sustains minor injuries in a car crash. After that, she becomes hypersensitive. She begins to feel the pain of isolation. Antonioni uses out of focus shots to show that she is "out of sync" with others. People around Giuliana can't relate to her troubles. Only Corrado understands some of her problems and comes near to her. Corrado is rootless,travelling from place to place but never finding happiness. He tries to make her feel better but nothing changes.
The film is hailed as a great example of the use of colour , or an expressionistic work of art. There are no natural colours that contain any real texture or sensuality. Even the natural elements seem to be unreal. Director uses colour to such striking effect that the film frequently borders on pure abstraction.
We can see how isolated one becomes when one realises that he/she is the only one who seems to be sensitive to it. This film shows the oppressive sides of modern life. Human relationships have become mechanical. Antonioni nicely captures the dark side of modern world.
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